


Observations of a Barista

by Current521



Series: Starkid Writes [25]
Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: F/M, starkid writes, starkid writes discord
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-04
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:20:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22558537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Current521/pseuds/Current521
Summary: Emma hates Zoey and she hates her stupid boyfriend. This doesn't stop her from watching them, and then Sam and his wife, and then Charlotte and someone else.
Relationships: Charlotte/Sam (The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals), Charlotte/Ted (The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals), Sam/Zoey (The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals)
Series: Starkid Writes [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1462579
Comments: 10
Kudos: 49





	Observations of a Barista

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt for this week was "touch" and uhh, based on when I worked in the service industry and would make up stories in my head about customers I observed.

It’s not that Beanie’s is a terrible place to work, but Emma still hates it. She specifically hates her coworkers; Nora is alright, in theory, but then there’s Tessa and her terrible Californian accent, and Miriam who would be okay if she ever shut up, and Zoey, who also doesn’t shut up, and also has an annoying voice and accent and  _ face _ . And okay, Emma is exaggerating, but she really doesn’t like Zoey.

The only thing worse than Zoey is her boyfriend. He’s older than Emma by the looks of it — and she’s already ten years older than Zoey, of course, which is why Zoey being her manager is so infuriating — but he comes in sometimes to see Zoey.

Sometimes like today. “Hi, welcome to Beanie’s, what can I get you?” Emma forces herself to smile at him, even though she hates him. She doesn’t even remember his name.

“Yeah, is Zoey here?” He looks past her.

Emma sighs. “She’s out back, she’ll be here in a second.”   
“Cool.” The guy steps aside, letting the next customer get to the counter.

Zoey comes out not a minute later. “Sam!” She runs up to him.

The guy — Sam, apparently — gives her a hug and a kiss. “Hey babe.”

“What are you doing here? Aren’t you at work?” Zoey asks.

And he probably is, Emma thinks, because he’s in police uniform, but he shakes his head. “Nah, I’ve got a few hours, so I want to come see you.” He puts an arm around her shoulders.

And that’s the thing, Emma thinks as she goes to get a hot chocolate for an annoying kid in a bowtie. Sam never seems to let go of Zoey, no matter what. He’s always touching her, always with half an arm around her, always holding her hand or kissing her, and it’s sickening.

Two days later, Sam comes in again, but he’s not alone. There’s a woman with him, the same age as him, wearing a skirt and a cat sweater, with her hair nicely pulled back. She’s pretty, Emma thinks, and wonders who she is. And Zoey isn’t at work.

“Hi, welcome to Beanie’s, what can I get you?”

The woman smiles. “Uh, a coffee with sugar for me, and a latte for my husband.” She reaches out to take Sam’s hand.

“Right, that’ll be 6.34,” Emma says, typing in what they need.

“Okay.” And sure enough, when she dumps her money on the counter, Emma sees a wedding ring on her hand. Poor woman.

Sam draws his hand back. “I’ll go find a table, Charlotte, wait for the drinks.”   
“Sure.” She smiles at him.

Emma half considers telling this woman, Charlotte, that her husband is cheating on her, but then again. She doesn’t actually know that for sure, after all. So she just makes their drinks and smiles at Charlotte when she takes them.

She can’t quite help herself though; Sam has always annoyed her with how much he’s always all over Zoey, but with his wife, he’s different. He lets her touch him, but he never initiates it, doesn’t even lean in when she kisses him. Emma wonders, but stays quiet.

Charlotte comes in alone the next day. She’s with another man, not Sam. They’re exactly one inch apart, and stay that way as they walk to the counter.

“Hi, welcome to Beanie’s, what can I get you?”

The man looks at Charlotte. “Uh, just a coffee with sugar for me.”   
“Yeah, and get me a chai iced tea, thanks sweetheart.” He smiles, and Emma instantly hates him.

She smiles anyway. “Sure thing, that’ll be 7.22.”

Charlotte is about to pay, but the man stops her. “I’ll get it.” He pays for both of them, then looks at her. “Go find a table, I’ll wait for the drinks.” He’s softened his voice this time, and he’s smiling. Emma notices — maybe because she’s paying attention — that he raises a hand as though to put it on her shoulder, then drops it.

He gets the drinks and goes to sit next to Charlotte. Emma pays attention to them because she’s curious. They’re talking, and she does see them take each others’ hands for short moments, but they always let go. And several times, the man moves as though he’s about to reach out for Charlotte, but always drops his hand.

Emma wonders what’s up with them, but she can hardly ask. She does wonder how Sam would react if he walked in now.


End file.
